Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Moving members from Associate to Active

[Mac Thomson (mac]

Steve Farley recently asked:

> Some of us are starting to worry that we may not have enough
> incentives in place to encourage people to put the big money down and
> become full Active Members.
> 
> Does anyone else have ideas for possible incentives which would encourage
> the additional investment without driving people away entirely?

We've got a few different incentive plans in use, which are detailed in the
following document.  I think that all of these how been borrowed to a certain
extent from other groups.

************************
MEMBERSHIP INCENTIVES

PHILOSOPHY
Membership Incentives are offered for a number of reasons:
To reward Members that join early for the high level of risk inherent in the
development project during the initial phases.
To reward Members that join early for the use of their money for a longer
period of time.  If it wasnt paid to SJC, it could be earning interest
somewhere else.
To reward Members that join early for the extra work that theyll put in at
the beginning.
To encourage Members to sign up early, especially at critical points in the
development process.  Our Membership Threshold Goals must be met for us to
move ahead with development.

CHOICE OF LOT
The order in which households become Members is the order in which they will
get to choose lots.  

To avoid any misunderstanding, it should be understood that lots will be
priced differently depending on their relative market values (views, trees,
topography, etc.).  These prices will be determined before lots are chosen.

EQUITY CREDITS
Equity Credits of $1000 each are awarded to all Members at certain points in
the development project.  Every household that's a Member gets a $1000 Equity
Credit at the time of:
1) Site control (under contract for land).
2) Receiving preliminary land use approval.
3) Beginning of construction.

So a family thats in from the beginning would receive a $3000 discount (3
Equity Credits) on the price of their lot.  The credits can be used at the
time of final purchase.

What this means is that if a Member is in from before we have the land under
contract and selects a $47,000 lot, they would only pay $44,000 for the lot.

************************
If you decide to use Equity Credits, don't forget to budget in the estimated
credits.

    Mac Thomson                         San Juan Cohousing
    Mac [at] HappyValley.com           Durango, Colorado

  "The strength of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes."
                        - Confucius


--Sent from HappyValley FirstClass BBS 904.246.9255